Parthenium argentatum Gray commonly known as guayule, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae, native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. P. argentatum produces high quality rubber in bark tissue and finds particular value as an alternative source of natural rubber latex.
Natural rubber, cis-1,4-polyisoprene, is essential and irreplaceable in many industrial applications. Because of its desirable properties, the demand for natural rubber is rising, making natural rubber increasingly more precious as an industrial material. To meet demand at sustainable costs, it is desirable to increase the quantity and/or quality of natural latex rubber produced from guayule. Indeed, increasing the quantity of available natural rubber latex will benefit agricultural workers and many industries and thus, humankind in general.
Accordingly, discovering and developing guayule cultivars capable of producing high yields of natural rubber latex would be invaluable for increasing available quantities of natural rubber. Therefore, what is needed in the art, are methods for improving the quantity and/or quality of natural latex rubber from guayule, and new guayule cultivars capable of producing high yields of natural rubber latex.
Fortunately, as will be clear from the following disclosure, the present invention provides for these and other needs.